


I Got Chills

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [43]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 17:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8675941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Kara gestures for Barry to make his way into her apartment, and he does, a confused grin on his face. "What, did you lose your powers or something?" he asks, sounding somewhere between joking and worried. "Is that why your cousin busted through dimensions to grab me?"
Kara and Barry talk about healing, one superhero to another.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Written for H/C Bingo Round 7. Vaguely related to [this fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7382389), but not enough for it to be in the series. Title from _You're the One That I Want_ from Grease.

It's Clark that brings Barry to her, looking every bit as confused as he had the last time Kara had met him.

"Clark. Was this really necessary?"

Clark, for his part, looks more amused than anything else. "He really has no idea who I am."

Kara rolls her eyes, turning away from the two men in her doorway. "Well, I'm sure Lois is waiting for you in Metropolis, Clark."

"Sure, but Barry's gonna need a ride home."

Kara opens her mouth to say that she'll take care of it, only to remember her conviction not to use her powers anymore. She snaps her jaw shut to stop the words and nods. "Right. Well, you still have James' number, don't you?"

When she glances at Clark over her shoulder, his face is shifting rapidly from hope to a shuttered kind of resignation. "Yeah, sure thing Kara." Then he's patting Barry on the shoulder and turning away to walk down the hall.

Kara gestures for Barry to make his way into her apartment, and he does, a confused grin on his face. "What, did you lose your powers or something?" he asks, sounding somewhere between joking and worried. "Is that why your cousin busted through dimensions to grab me?"

Kara blinks at him. "What? Why would me losing my powers make him come get you?"

"Well, because I-- I mean, my powers-- well, that is, I--" Barry stutters himself to a halt and blinks at Kara a few times, as though to get his bearings, really looking at her, as though to take stock of her.

She looks away, opening the fridge, using it as a shield between the two of them. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Barry zips around the door, and Kara clenches her eyes shut so she doesn't have to look up into his eyes. "Why _did_ your cousin come get me, Kara?"

Kara sighs, letting her head drop to rest against Barry's chest. "Because six weeks ago I was kidnapped and tortured for about nine hours, and he thinks the worst part of that was the fact that I was electrocuted and, because of my healing factor, have no physical evidence of what was done to me. He thinks that bringing you in would remind me that we don't all wear the scars of what happens to us, and convince me to--" She cuts herself off, straightening sharply and hip checking Barry aside to pour them both a glass of water.

Barry takes his glass, looking at her over the rim with knowing eyes. He sips at it, letting Kara make small talk before he finally sets the glass down on the island, looking at her head on. "Your cousin brought me in to convince you to do what, Kara?"

Kara closes her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her nose before opening her eyes and looking up at Barry. "To convince me to go back to being a hero."

Barry draws back, looking her in the eyes. "You hung up the uniform?" Kara looks away at Barry's words, but instead of turning her to look at him, he pulls her in close, tucking her cheek against his chest. "What did they do to you?"

Kara closes her eyes, feeling the electricity humming in her veins as strongly as if it were happening right now. "They… I told you," she says, stopping herself short. "They tortured me."

Barry tightens his hold on her. "What did they do to you?"

Kara opens her mouth to speak and chokes on a sob. "They…." With a swallow, Kara wraps her arms around Barry to match his hold on her. "They restrained me," she begins, going for the technical language that J'onn's report had used instead of the words she so wants to use. "They restrained me with a special substance that nullifies my powers, and then subjected me to prolonged electric shock while threatening the people I care about."

"They tied you up and electrocuted you and told you they were going to kill your family and your cousin thinks you can just… get over that and go back to the job?"

Kara draws back, blinking up at Barry in surprise.

Barry's face goes rueful. "Kara, I've used my powers to change the past to avoid dealing with things I didn't want to deal with. I've crossed dimensions and watched people I love be killed and there were days it made me want to hang up the suit too. Days where I did. Days where the only thing that made me put it back on was knowing there was no one else to pick up the slack. But you have people here looking out for your city, Kara," he says when she begins to protest. "People that can protect it when you can't. You have powerful people you can rely on, and that's something that, even with my team, I don't exactly have. If you have time to heal, you need to take it."

Kara stares up at Barry in disbelief. "But, I…" she swallows. "You don't think I just need to get back to the job? Get used to it again?"

Barry snorts. "That way leads to untreated trauma and dangerous decisions, Kara. If you have the time, take it. For both of us."

Kara takes the barest of moments to search Barry's eyes for any hint of deceit and, upon finding none, launches herself into his arms again, hanging on for dear life. For the first time since she'd been saved, she lets go of everything she's feeling. Lets herself hurt and ache and scream until, exhausted, she lets Barry settle them on the couch. She can still feel the electricity crackling under her skin, can still feel how much healing she has left to do, but if the first step was being allowed to _feel_ again, then she's finally been allowed to take it. Maybe this is where the return to who she was--the growth into who she will become--finally begins.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
